Postlude+Prelude=Confusing-lude
by vegnc
Summary: That which comes before Draco Meets His Match and does somewhat of a strange job of explaining the goings-on, but only if you know the plot of Audrey's original fic. ...Which you don't. :^_^:


Damn you, block of writers.

~*~*~*~

_Dear Draco,_

Hello! How are you? It seems like ages since I've seen you, even though I'm sure it's only been less than a week, hasn't it?

I'm having loads of fun back in America, although all my friends are nagging me about the residual British accent that I picked up--it STILL hasn't worn off, can you believe it? I'm also still spouting off all the slang--nobody understands "bollocks" or "sod" here, it's infuriating! However, I suppose there are American terms that people in the UK don't understand, it's just that I've become accustomed to most of the speech patterns overseas (although all the Cockney still confuses me; I can't understand a bloody WORD they say). Oh well, I'll give it time. I'm sure all my speech patterns shall reassimilate themselves accordingly soon, and I'll have to readjust to British next year at Hogwarts.

Even though my parents know I'm a witch, they loathe the owl post method; it drives them up the wall. The owl you gave me is SO cute, though! I don't understand why they don't like it. I mean, it is rather noisy when it wants to get out at night, and it keeps leaving mice in my mum's bed, but other than that, she's REALLY a sweetheart. I'm sure she doesn't mean to do it--her name is Oreo, by the way, because she's discovered she has a love for chocolate; if I didn't keep her in her cage at night, she'd eat all that we have.

I suppose I haven't talked about much, have I? And this is getting to be rather long.

I'll update you on what's been going on over here, and you can do likewise--I know you won't know anything about Harry, Hermione, and Ron, since you're not really friends with them, but just what's been going on with you, really, is all I'm curious about.

Mum and Dad picked me up from the airport (my brothers were there as well), and when we got home, it turns out they had arranged a kind of Coming-Home party for me, and all my friends were there--along with a boy that I think I've told you about; his name is Aidan. I've mentioned him, haven't I?

Anyway, we hit it off marvelously, and we went to a movie, which is kind of like the moving pictures that wizards take, except on a large screen, with sound--it's a Muggle thing and hard to explain--but you've heard of them, haven't you? Right, well, Aidan was stunningly nice, and I told him mostly about my school year, except I left out the wizard parts, of course. And I told him about you, and he was very sympathetic and reassuring and wonderful and he put my stomach in flips--sound familiar, Draco?

And I think we're dating now, and I know you probably don't care, but I thought it was best that you knew.

I'd better go now; Mum wants me to help her get lunch on the table. Sorry to leave it at such a strange note, but I really can't think of anything else to write.

Love,  
Audrey

    Taking Oreo out of her cage, Audrey folded up her note to Draco and tied it to the owl's leg. "Coming!" she called to her mother, setting the tiny bird on the windowsill. "I know mum told me not to give you anymore," she whispered conspiratorially, "but I've still got a few chocolate frogs left from school. Now go on, deliver my letter!" She smiled, shooing Oreo out of the window, and then turned around to dash downstairs.

***

    Draco picked up his paperweight, tapping it on the tabletop as he fumed.

    _And I think we're dating now._

    He tightened his hand around the glass weight.

    _You probably don't care._

    But he _did_ care! Sure, maybe he didn't love Audrey, but _she_ loved _him_ and this Aidan fellow was obviously invading his territory--and _nobody_ was allowed to simply snatch something of a Malfoy's. Audrey was Draco's.

    Draco's possession. _His._ Not some silly prat named _Aidan._

    Turning around sharply in his chair, Draco flung the weight across the room and let it crash through his bedroom window, shattering the colored glass. "Aidan," he muttered. He hated the name. Loathed it. Loathe, though, he thought, wasn't quite appropriate for the feeling of anger welling up in the pit of his stomach, or the way he felt that the name clashed horribly with the name "Audrey."

    "Draco?" he heard his mother calling from down the hall. "Is everything all right? I thought I heard glass breaking!"

    "No," Draco yelled back, walking across the room and looking out the broken window. "Everything's fine." He whispered a quick summoning spell and snatched the paperweight out of the air when it came careening up to him, and then tapped the window with his wand. "_Reparo._"

    He frowned, pulling a crisp piece of stationary, a quill, and an inkwell out of a desk drawer. "Audrey and Aidan. How simply _perfect._"

_Audrey--_

Congratulations on the boyfriend. I am thrilled. I, however, am not having a v. relaxed summer and am v. busy. Cannot afford to write a long note or I would express my true happiness about Aidan.

He sounds wonderful. Am glad all is well with your family and friends.

D

***

    "_This_ is a letter from the guy you were mooning over all year?" Lexi asked, holding the letter out to Audrey. "This is _the_ Draco? Drakie, the sweet, caring guy you fell for over in the UK?" Audrey nodded miserably. "What a dog," Lexi frowned, looking over the letter again. "Nice penmanship, though," she mused quietly.

    "Lexi!" Audrey yelled, snatching the letter away from her friend. "This is no time to be swooning over his _handwriting,_ my _God_!"

    "By _thunder_, Audrey," Lexi laughed, putting a hand to her chest. "You seem a bit--what was that word you use?--peevish, all of a sudden."

    "Peevish, yes. But look! 'I would express my true happiness about _Aidan._' He puts such a horrible emphasis on it--oh, God, Lex, what if he hates me?"

    "He could just mean it in honesty, you know--"

    "He could _not_! That's nothing like him. He always gets jealous over the silliest things, like when he thought I liked Harry-bloody-Potter more than him, which is complete nonsense--"

    "Harry Potter?"

    Audrey sighed. "Never mind, he's another friend from school. The point is that Draco is a horribly jealous prat--"

    Lexi looked disgusted. "_Prat_? What the hell does that mean?"

    "Let's just say 'jerk' for now, Lexi--and he's very possessive. _Very_ possessive, to the extent that it's almost frightening." Lexi raised an eyebrow, smiling, as Audrey continued. "But he's wonderful, too--he's protective and he'd give anything for...for..."

    "For you?" Lexi said dryly.

    Audrey frowned, looking down at the letter. "I guess. I'm not so sure about this letter, though. I mean, he said that he didn't feel anything other than friendship, but he sounds so jealous..."

    Taking the parchment from Audrey, Lexi smiled. "Well, the best thing to do in a situation like this is rip."

    "Rip?"

    "Rip," Lexi agreed, tearing the paper in half.

    Audrey gasped. "But Lex, you've forgotten about his beautiful penmanship!"

    "Oh, woe is me," Lexi moaned, dramatically collapsing back onto Audrey's floor and throwing the torn pieces in the air. "Whatever shall I do? How could I possibly replace what hath been lost?"

    "Well," Audrey smiled, "what would annoy him most would be if I were to write back and act as if I didn't notice how short he was with me."

    Lexi grinned. "Do it."

    "I'll write him a letter after I get back from going out with Aidan tonight; he'll _really_ hate that..."

    "He deserves it for being such a dog when he wrote to you," Lexi said, "no matter how neat his handwriting."

***

_Dear Draco,_

Hello again! I'm sorry to hear that you're so busy. You said something about furthering your fencing studies during summer, so I guess that's part of what you're doing. What else has you with so little time on your hands? Are you learning a language, or other curriculum? I know how absorbed you are in furthering your knowledge. So, fencing and studying, is it?

I expect a proper response (that means it includes actual words) this time!

Now, back to me. I went out again with your favorite "Aidan" tonight and had an absolutely smashing time. There's this lovely pond a little way away from where my house is, and we walked there and fed ducks. I know it sounds silly (I can hear you laughing now--STOP.) but it was really quite sweet. Unfortunately, it started to rain, so we came back here, and he left a little while ago, so I thought I'd drop you another line.

Oh well, I expect that you're busy now, so I'll cut this off here. Au revoir!

Love,  
Audrey

    _There,_ Audrey thought, sending Oreo out the window, _that'll teach him._

***

    Draco was not amused. Audrey was not being funny. _Ducks_?! What the hell? Ducks. Audrey had never mentioned _ducks_ before. She chose ruddy ducks over a Malfoy?

    This was not happening to him.

    Resisting a strong desire to hurl every one of his breakable possessions around his room, Draco sat down to look over the mail again, while Oreo hooted contentedly, cuddled up next to Nostradamus on his perch.

    Ducks. He still couldn't believe it. "Ducks," he muttered. "Bloody ducks. Maybe I should have bought her a duck instead of an owl."

    Then again, who was he kidding? He didn't care. Draco Malfoy was not in love. He didn't love Audrey. In fact, now that he thought of it, he felt no attraction to Audrey whatsoever. No attraction. He was fine. Fine.

    ...Fine.

    "I am _fine!_" he screamed, throwing the letter down and leaning back in his chair, flinging his arms into the air. He waited for someone to come into his room and disagree, but no one did. "I am _fine_ now," he muttered to himself.

    But he _wasn't_ fine. He wanted to see this Aidan--the one person who had ever dared to cross over onto his property. And Audrey was his bloody property. Yes, she was.

    And he would see Aidan. Somehow.

_Dear Audrey,_

I vaguely remember you mentioning this Aidan fellow to me during school. Do you have a picture of him? He seems like a nice chap, and I'd love to see the man able to win your heart. ...I'm sure the ducks were lovely.

Actually, yes, you guessed right on the fencing part. Father's gotten me a private tutor and I'm progressing well. As you know, I've already shown quite the aptitude for French, and Latin is coming along nicely.

Anyway, I'm dreadfully busy as usual, and I think your owl misses you, and I can sympathize.

Missing you,  
D

    There. Audrey never could pass him up when he was being sweet. He'd surely see Aidan. _And if not,_ Draco shrugged, handing Oreo and owl treat, _I'll be making a trip to California._

***

    "What a crock," Lexi grumbled. "I'm tempted to rip this one too, but his handwriting's extra pretty. Does he actually think he can simply win you over by being sickeningly sweet?"

    Audrey blinked. "Yes."

    Lexi glanced up. "...And can he?"

    "Well," Audrey said, "yes."

    "Oh," Lexi sighed. "Why don't you just send him a picture of Aidan, then?"

    "Because I want him to beg for it. I want _him_ to come crawling to _me_, instead of the other way around."

    "Well," Lexi smiled, handing Audrey a piece of paper and a pen, "write him up."

    Audrey smiled.

_Draco--_

I'm sorry, I'm terribly busy tonight. Honestly, I have _no_ time to find Aidan and take a picture of him because I'm getting food together; I'm having Aidan and a friend over day after tomorrow and God knows that I _must_ be organized.

Ta!

A

    "Superb," Lexi grinned, taking the piece of paper from Audrey. "Now we can just put it in an envelope and mail it."

    "Er, actually, Oreo can take it."

    "You trust your pet bird with your mail to darling Drakie-kins?"

    "Uh," Audrey mumbled, trying to quickly improvise, "my owl knows his owl."

    One of Lexi's eyebrows rose. "What, your pet bird is friends with his pet bird?"

    "Yeah," Audrey nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

    Lexi stared at her for a minute, and then shook her head, handing Audrey the letter. "Fine, send your bird to see its bird-friend, but I've gotta split. I'll see you tomorrow."

    "Bye, Lex," Audrey said, taking a bit of a Hershey's bar from a drawer in her desk and feeding it to Oreo. "Now be good," she whispered, scratching her owl under her beak and then opening the window. Audrey just hoped Draco didn't take her letter _too_ seriously.

***

    "Mum!" Draco yelled, running down one of the many staircases in his home, one hand trailing down the mahogany banister, the other gripping his latest letter from Audrey. "What's the fastest way I could get to California?"

    "Why would you want to go there?" his mother frowned, coming out of the kitchen and leaning on one side of the doorframe.

    "I've got a friend there that I really need to see," he said, waving the letter. "It's urgent."

    "Your father could probably arrange a flight," she shrugged, "if it's that important. He has connections everywhere along the Muggles' airlines."

    "Great, but could you go ask him? I'm going to run back upstairs and throw some things in a bag." Draco ran up several steps and turned around. "Oh, and Mum? I'll only need an overnight. I won't be gone long; I just have something I need to do."

    _Aidan's going to her house tonight,_ he thought, tossing expendable things into a small bag--food, a small hairbrush, a toothbrush, clothes to change in to once he reached California (he couldn't go to Audrey's looking rumpled, and he wouldn't have long to get to her house). He zipped up the bag and then ran back down the stairs, where Lucius was waiting. "Get me to the airport."

    "Come along, then," Lucius said, grabbing a coat and walking out the door.

***

    Audrey yawned, flinging herself backwards onto the couch to sit between Lexi and Aidan. Life, she decided, was good. Her parents and siblings were out, her best friend and her boyfriend were with her, and, best of all, Draco Malfoy was jealous. The only way life could be better was if it wasn't pouring down rain. It would also be an improvement if it were Draco instead of Aidan sitting next to her, but Audrey had always heard that beggars shouldn't be choosers.

    Picking up the remote, Audrey turned on the television. "So what're we going to watch?" There was suddenly a loud boom of thunder, and Audrey and Lexi screamed, covering their ears. Aidan jumped as well, his hands instinctively reaching up to protect his own ears. There was a yelp and a thud from outside the front door, a pause, and then a knock.

    "Maybe that's the pizza," Audrey shrugged, getting up off the couch. Grabbing some money as she passed the kitchen counter, she opened the door. Standing on her doorstep was Draco Malfoy with his hair plastered to his head, sopping wet, panting, and looking more pale than ever. She dropped the money.

    "Hi," Draco said, feeling a bit stupid.

    "Aud, what's going on?" Aidan asked, coming in from the living room with Lexi on his heels.

    Biting her lip, Audrey glanced from Draco to Aidan. "Uh," she said. "Aidan, this is Draco, and vice versa. And this is Lexi."

    "Nice to meet you," Aidan said, holding out his hand.

    Draco's eyes darkened as he stared at Aidan. "Charmed, I'm sure," he said, ignoring the proffered hand.

    Audrey glanced back at Lexi, who was mouthing _He's so cute!_ to her behind Aidan's back. Blushing, she looked away.

    Draco was still standing outside, getting more soaked by the minute. "Can I talk to you?" he said quietly to Audrey.

    "Why don't you come inside?"

    Draco glanced to Aidan. "I'd rather not."

    "Well, I'm _not_ going out there in this weather," Audrey said, crossing her arms.

    He frowned, pushing his hair away from his eyes. "Then there's no bloody point, is there?" Shoving his hands in his pockets, Draco leaned forward and kissed Audrey on the cheek. "I'll miss you," he said simply, pausing to stare at her for a moment before turning and walking out the door.

    "Draco, what...?" Audrey said, leaning out the door, but he just waved a hand behind him and kept walking, turning the corner out of her driveway. She turned around to Lexi and Aidan, shaking her head. "I need to--"

    "We know," Lexi nodded. "Go after him."

    "I'm sorry, Aidan," Audrey said, walking outside and shutting the door. "Draco!" she yelled, running down the sidewalk, but he was already turning the corner a block away, and probably couldn't hear her over the rain. "Draco!" she screamed again, running after him. It was a good thing that he didn't know his way around, because he was headed straight into a dead-end alley. Speeding up, she ran into him as he was exiting the alley, looking a bit confused about his location. "Draco, I--"

    "What?" he snapped. "You want to come gloat about your prat of a boyfriend? You want to brag about bloody Aidan, is that it?"

    "No!" she yelled, resisting the urge to kick him in the ankle. "I don't!"

    "What're you here for, then?" Draco asked quietly.

    "What the hell are _you_ here for? One day you're in England, and then you suddenly decide that you need to come to California?"

    Draco frowned. "I wanted to talk to you."

    Audrey closed her eyes. "Draco, I am cold, wet, and I am not in a good mood. Talk."

    "You don't belong with ruddy Aidan!" he yelled. "You shouldn't be with some--some bloody polite moron who's going to take you to feed bloody ducks every bloody day! It's going to get boring, Audrey! Eventually you'd just--you'd just realize that life is so boring that there's no point to anything if you have to be with stupid Aidan for the rest of your life, instead of with someone worthwhile."

    "Like who?" Audrey frowned.

    He frowned. "If you haven't bloody figured it out already, my prime suggestion is me." He sighed. "Look, Aud, I know that I told you before that I didn't love you. I don't. It's too soon for that, don't you think? But--I think that I have the potential to fall in love with you, and--Aud, I keep tripping, and I fall farther each time, but it doesn't matter because I'm falling for you." He bit his lip. "Does that make sense?"

    "Don't do that," she smiled, reaching up to tap his lower lip.

    "Why not?"

    "It's cute; it makes my stomach all flippy," Audrey shrugged.

    Draco reached up to cup her cheek in his hand. "Everything I do makes your stomach all flippy, Aud. It always has."

    "Shut up, Draco, I'm still mad at you."

    "Good," he smiled. "You should always be mad at me."

    She frowned. "Why?"

    He inclined his head to whisper in her ear. "It makes my stomach all flippy."

    Audrey stared at him as he leaned back again and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Really?"

    "Mm," Draco nodded, leaning down and pressing his mouth against hers.

    Audrey squeaked in surprise, and his hands tightened on her waist, almost as if he were making sure that she wasn't going to go anywhere. After a few moments, she realized that it was actually quite pleasant and she melted, slipping her arms behind his neck.

    "I'm so hungry," he sighed after he broke the kiss.

    "How romantic," Audrey sighed. "The pizza should be back at the house by now."

    "Well _that's_ romantic. 'Let's go eat pizza with Aidan.'"

    "What, you have a better suggestion?"

    Draco shrugged. "Not really. Pizza sounds fine."

    "You'll like Aidan," Audrey smiled, grabbing his hand.

    He shook his head. "Probably not. I'll like pizza, though." Audrey laughed, leaning her head on Draco's shoulder as they walked back to her house.

    She loved summer. 


End file.
